Milton, Georgia – The Cambridge Lady Bears played a hard-fought game to come out on top vs the Dunwoody High School Wildcats 6-2 on Tuesday, February 8, 2022.
The Dunwoody Wildcats came out fast at Cambridge stadium on Tuesday night. But the Lady Bears would slow them down quickly when just two minutes into the game, Junior Katelyn Hardwick made a quick pass to Senior Captain Ella Ciardullo who dribbled the ball toward the middle of the field and found Sophomore Aurora Gaines with a smart touch on the ball. Gaines took a strong strike that flew into the back of the net putting the Bears up 1-0 early. The Wildcats responded with quick passing, and physical play, but the Lady Bears kept their pace and played just as hard. Senior Captain Ella Ciardullo had two breakaway opportunities making it look easy to beat the defender with her amazing footwork, one shot was saved by the Dunwoody Goalkeeper while the second hit the crossbar. The score remained 1-0 ten minutes into the first half.
The Wildcats were able to get the ball into our defense, but Senior Defender Ella Crawley played masterfully in the back, protecting our goal. Senior Captain Olivia Barfield made one save in the first 15 minutes of play while the score remained 1-0. The Lady Bears defenders, including Crawley and Sophomore Kaitlyn Clark, were working fast and keeping Dunwoody from having opportunities despite their time of possession. With 18 minutes left in the first half, Sophomore Natalie Leibel took a big shot that soared toward the far post of the goal; however, the forwards could not get a foot on it and it sailed out of bounds. With 12 minutes left to play in the first half, Senior Captain Ella Ciardullo crossed the ball in front of the net, the Wildcat Goalkeeper was able to save it initially, however the pressure from the Lady Bears' front line caused the ball to slip from her hands. As the Goalie tried to recover the ball there was a scramble in front of the net and Sophomore Forward Aurora Gaines got her foot on the ball for several attempts at pushing it through and had success, scoring her second goal of the night, and putting the Bears on top 2-0.
The Bears fans were cold in the stands but feeling hot from the seemingly inconsistent calls on the field. The last minutes of the first half became increasingly more physical as the Officials seemed to be letting the teams play a bit more than normal. Dunwoody was not intimidated by the scoreboard, and they came after the Bears harder. With just a few minutes left before the half, the Wildcats were awarded a corner kick. The Bears defense forced the ball out to the Dunwoody midfield, and they took a shot on goal, but Senior Goalie Olivia Barfield was able to make the save. At the halftime buzzer, the score was 2-0 in favor of the Bears.
The second half started with the same fast speed of play and physicality as the first half ended. The Lady Bears came out stronger than they left before the half, playing tough against this team. Ten minutes into the second half, the Wildcats were awarded a PK after a foul by a Bears Defender. The kick was low and to the left side of the goal just past Senior Captain Olivia Barfield's reach making the score 2-1. The Lady Bears would answer 10 minutes later when they were awarded a free kick. Sophomore Natalie Leibel took the shot which was deflected and Freshman Aspyn Stucke crashed the net and hit the ball into the goal for her first Varsity goal – putting the Bears on top 3-1.
The Bears kept fighting against the physical play of the Wildcats. With 16 minutes left in the game Sophomore Forward Aurora Gaines was tripped on a run with the ball and the Lady Bears were awarded a Free Kick. Sophomore Natalie Leibel lined up and made a perfect kick on frame and over the Goalkeeper's head for an unassisted goal. The Lady Bears were starting to breathe as the score rose to 4-1.
With 12 minutes left in the game, the Dunwoody offense took a shot from the right which was saved by Senior Captain Olivia Barfield. The ball was not set cleanly in Barfield's hands, and it rolled to the left where a Dunwoody player made a second effort shot and scored to shorten their deficit 4-2.
The Bears defense, continued to work hard and the Dunwoody offense were denied any activity near our goal for the final minutes of the match. With ten minutes left in the game, the Lady Bears would add two more goals. Junior Gaby Sanchez made the score 5-2 when she received a ball on a throw in and dribbled toward the middle of the field taking a hard shot from the 20-yard line. Then, with seconds left on the clock, Junior Katelyn Hardwick took a shot on goal which was deflected by the Goalkeeper, but Freshman Aspyn Stucke was there to finish the attempt and scored her second Varsity goal and second goal of the night. The game would end with a score of 6-2.
The Lady Bears will host cross town rival Milton Eagles on Friday, February 11th at 6:00 pm. Let's Go Bears!
